Former El Paso Independent School District superintendent Lorenzo Garcia is escorted by his attorneys into the Albert Armendariz, Sr., Federal Courthouse where he was sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison. Garcia must also pay $180,00 (Ruben R. Ramirez / El Paso Times)

Former El Paso Independent School District superintendent Lorenzo García was sentenced to three and a half years in federal prison.

Victims of an El Paso Independent School District cheating scheme, which was led by former Superintendent Lorenzo García, were disappointed after learning that García would spend less than four years in federal prison.

REPORTER

Alex Hinojosa

On Friday, Senior U.S. District Judge David Briones sentenced García to three and a half years in federal prison. In addition, García must pay $180,000 in restitution to the EPISD and a $56,500 fine.

Many of those who had come forward were hoping for a harsher sentence.

"I think 20 years would have been better because it will take the students that have been harmed at least 20 years to get their lives on track," said Patricia Padilla, a teacher at El Paso High School.

"Some of these kids were Einsteins, but García didn't give them the same opportunities because they were LEP (limited English proficient). García may have three years, but these kids are serving a life sentence that they will never recuperate from."

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Other district employees had similar sentiments.

"He (García) owes these kids more than just that for compensation," said Bowie High School teacher Gilbert Medina.

"They are owed an education, scholarships, tuition for trade schools, and a chance to obtain their GEDs."

In June, García pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit mail fraud. On one charge, he directed six co-conspirators and others to inflate students' test scores to meet federal accountability standards.

Other tactics used to accomplish this included discouraging students from enrolling in school, denying admittance to students from foreign countries, changing grades, deleting credits and improperly reclassifying students from the tenth grade to the ninth or eleventh grades, according to federal documents.

Former Bowie High student David Alvarado Aldana was among those who addressed García in court and felt that the sentence was not enough.

Aldana was constantly changed from one grade level to another while at school.

"When they first registered me, I thought I was going in as a sophomore, but they said because I didn't know English, I had to be placed as a freshman," Aldana said.

"The following year, I got bumped up to a junior and the next day I was a senior. Whenever we asked our counselors what was going on, we were told it was an error in the system."

Aldana, who said he did the best he could with his education, was among the few victims who were able to graduate in the top 10 percent. More than 250 students are estimated to have fallen victim to the districtwide cheating scheme.

Now a freshman at the University of Texas at El Paso, Aldana said he wants to become a teacher so he can help others like him who struggled through school.

"He (García) needs to serve more time because there is not justification for what he's done," Aldana said.

"He did something that is irreparable with all these students. He manipulated the grades and the credits. I think 20 years should have been given to him -- I think he needs that time to really think and understand the harm he's done."

Although U.S. marshals took García immediately into custody and he is no longer involved with the district, Bowie teacher Robert Davenport felt that teachers who spoke out against the district will continue to be targeted by the current administration.

FBI officials said more arrests would be forthcoming, but that was of little comfort to several district employees.

"We still have those that were involved serving at the district," Davenport said. "They removed the tumor, but there are still cancer cells alive everywhere. What kind of a message does that send to the students and to the teachers? I think essentially all of us are getting a life sentence. We still fear retaliation. The intimidation at Bowie High School is still there."

Former Bowie counselor Patricia Scott, who first brought evidence to the district that the grades and classifications of 77 students were being manipulated, felt that justice against Garcia's co-conspirators would come soon.

"There's still other people that need to be held to justice," Scott said.

"I know the FBI has been working with us to take care of that problem. They're going to take down the people that need to be taken down."

Alex Hinojosa may be reached at ahinojosa@elpasotimes.com; 546-6137. Hayley Kappes contributed to this report.